Shell Employees and Contractors Raise Funds For Bluewater Health Through Safety Campaign

Employees and contracting partners from Shell Canada’s Sarnia Manufacturing Centre (SMC) raised $83,000 for Bluewater Health’s Maternal Infant Child Unit to purchase two new isolettes.

Funds were raised as part of the SMC’s Goal Zero Campaign, an initiative that promotes safety on site by providing incentive for each day injury free. For this campaign, a donation went into what became known as the INCUBANK each day without incident.

“Guy Hackwell (current General Manager of SMC) used to serve on the board of directors for a Fort McMurray hospital foundation and told us about how the site in Alberta raised funds for their local hospital,” says Dan DeGurse, Safety Manager, Shell Canada Products. “In Fort McMurray they fundraised for incubators [isolettes], and upon further research, I saw the Sarnia hospital also needed them.”

DeGurse also says that there was a Sarnia employee who had to travel to London during the birth of her child because there weren’t enough isolettes available. “That really sealed the deal on this initiative to give back to the community,” he says.

The idea was received with overwhelming support from employees, contracting companies, and trade union business agents. “It falls in line with the site’s ‘Sarnia Our Way’ vision,” he says. “We show up with care and commitment to our teams, our neighbours, and the site we operate.”

“Everyone on site knew about the INCUBANK,” says DeGurse. “Each day we went without an injury, we handed out promo cheques to employees or contractors on site so they could have their picture taken with it.”

In addition, DeGurse says he saw a major change amongst the culture because of the initiative, and that safety was managed through care for each other.

“Employees and contractors worked together and were part of the Shell family working together to achieve a common goal, which ultimately helped our overall safety on site,” DeGurse says. “The enthusiasm that people had on site when they were being recognized either via the ‘Golden Tool Box’ or the daily cheque used to signify each day’s contribution was incredible.”

An isolette is designed to provide a stable, cocoon-like environment for a baby, and allows healthcare workers to continuously monitor both the core and peripheral body temperature.

“This gift will have a profound impact on Bluewater Health’s youngest patients,” says Kathy Alexander, Executive Director, Bluewater Health Foundation. “We are incredibly thankful for the generosity of the employees and contracting partners of Shell Canada’s Sarnia Manufacturing Centre.”